News and views
A welcome kick start for the “levelling up” agenda
POSTED ON
25 September 2020
MV’s Andrew Laird says that a new report by Danny Kruger MP provides a welcome kick start for the government’s levelling-up agenda and is full of ideas. I’ve just finished reading Danny Kruger’s report “Levelling up our communities”. It’s extremely heartening at a time when there is not much good news. The report is focused…
Local government reorganisation must heed the lessons of COVID-19 on the importance of place
POSTED ON
23 September 2020
A report commissioned by the County Councils Network on merging district and borough councils with county councils has sparked a lively debate on the future structure of local government in England. Mutual Ventures’ Jamie McMahon, argues that debate must learn the lessons of the COVID-19 crisis on the importance of place-based councils. The optimum structure…
Join our Family Group Conferences webinar – Thursday 1st October 10am
POSTED ON
18 September 2020
To register for this webinar click here. Family led decision making can be difficult to enact but over the past few decades Family Group Conferences (FGCs) have proved an effective way to do this by facilitating a joint process with families and professionals to develop workable plans for vulnerable individuals. While FGCs are widely…
Catch up on our webinar: Co-operative Approaches to COVID-19 Recovery
POSTED ON
18 September 2020
Catch up on our recent webinar on how local government can adopt a co-operative approach to recovery from COVID-19. Hear from our expert panel on how local authorities can learn the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and develop a plan that embeds communities at every level using our co-operative framework for recovery. The webinar was…
Catch up on our webinar: Harnessing the power of data to transform children’s social care
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9 September 2020
On 8th September we hosted a webinar with Xantura focused on how to harness the power of data to transform children’s social care. The webinar explored how data can empower social workers to make better decisions, save money by identifying at risk cohorts early and prevent escalation, and improve resource planning by better predicting demand….
In defence of algorithms and their value to public services
POSTED ON
8 September 2020
Andrew Laird argues that the recent exam debacle shouldn’t cause us to turn our back on the positive power of data analytics. A version of this article was originally published in the MJ on 4th September 2020. Spare a thought for algorithms. Having lived a largely inconspicuous life, the algorithm has been getting it from…
Free webinar: Co-operative Approaches to COVID-19 Recovery, Weds 16th September 11am-12noon
POSTED ON
7 September 2020
Join our webinar to learn how local government can adopt a cooperative approach to recovery from COVID-19, which empowers and strengthens communities at all levels. The webinar is designed for local authority leaders including Chief Executives, Directors, Heads of Services and Elected Members. The webinar will take place on Weds 16th September at 11.00 –…